Creamy Chicken Skillet with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Italian Herbs

This Creamy Chicken Skillet with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Italian Herbs is one of those dishes that’s easy enough for a weeknight supper, but special enough for a date night dinner… or even Valentine’s Day! Serve it over pasta, rice or with salad on the side. This amazing sauce is comfort food at its best!

Okay this creamy chicken skillet recipe is sooo good. We had it with pasta, and even Laurier, who is not (sadly) a pasta lover, couldn’t wait to eat it and wanted to take the leftovers for his lunch. There’s something about the umami tang from the sun dried tomatoes and the Parmesan cheese, combined with the flavour of the herbs. It’s just awesome.

I, of course, love creamy, rich dishes, whether they’re served over pasta (my first choice), creamy potatoes (my second choice, as long as they’re swimming in butter), or even rice (my last choice but still tasty). I suppose you could serve this with a salad on the side, but make sure you at least have some good bread to sop up all the delicious sauce. If not you’ll just have to lick the plate. 🙂

I wanted to keep this recipe pretty affordable, so I did a few things:

I used 2 chicken breasts, but this serves 4. We’ll slice the chicken breasts in half through the centre.

I used only dried herbs this time around (and garlic, of course… can’t make a dish like this without garlic).

I didn’t add any veggies to this dish, but you could totally saute up some mushrooms in it or add some chopped spinach (near the end). Both would be delicious.

Before you get started, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add 3/4 pound pasta and cook until al dente (around 10 minutes, usually). Scoop out a mug full of pasta water, drain pasta and set aside.

Combine 1/2 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of parsley, 1 teaspoon of basil, 1/4 teaspoon of tarragon, 1/4 teaspoon of oregano and 1/4 teaspoon of salt on a large plate and stir together.

You’ll be using two chicken breasts for this recipe. Slice them through the centre so that they are half as thick.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.

Dredge chicken in herbed flour, shake off excess and add to pan when it is medium hot. You want it hot enough that it sizzles, but not so hot that is sizzles out of control and burns the chicken.

Saute chicken on first side until it starts to brown, then flip and cook the other side. You want to cook the chicken through and how long that takes will depend on how thick it is and how hot your pan is.

It probably took around 5 minutes per side. Remove to a (clean) plate and repeat with remaining chicken.

I use a meat thermometer to test my chicken pieces (you’re looking for 165 degrees as an internal temperature). I love it because I can have nice juicy chicken instead of tough overcooked chicken, without worrying about it being undercooked.

If you’re using dried sun dried tomatoes you’ll need to rehydrate them by soaking them in boiling water for a couple of minutes. Drain before using.

For sun dried tomatoes in oil, just remove them from the oil and if they’re really oily pat them dry before using.

I used 4 sun dried tomatoes.

Chop the 4 sun dried tomatoes and 5 cloves of garlic while the chicken is cooking. You can also grate your Parmesan cheese (definitely use the real stuff if you can – it will melt into the sauce so much better).

Add sun dried tomatoes and garlic to the pan with 1 teaspoon each of butter and olive oil. Saute gently just for a few minutes. Then add1/2 cup of chicken broth and use a wooden spoon to scrap the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.

Add 1/4 cup of pasta water to the sauce. Add 1 teaspoon of parsley, 1 teaspoon of basil, 1/4 teaspoon of tarragon, 1/4 teaspoon of oregano, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if desired.

Nestle the chicken back into the pan so it can heat up in the sauce. Spoon sauce and chicken over pasta and enjoy! 🙂

This Creamy Chicken Skillet with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Italian Herbs is one of those dishes that's easy enough for a weeknight supper, but special enough for a date night dinner... or even Valentine's Day! Serve it over pasta, rice or with salad on the side. This amazing sauce is comfort food at its best!

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente (around 10 minutes, usually, but check your package). Before you drain it, scoop out a mug full of pasta water. Drain pasta and set aside.

For Chicken

Heat 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat.

Stir together flour, parsley, basil, oregano, tarragon and salt in a large plate.

Slice chicken breasts in half through the centre, so they're half as thick. Dredge both sides in the herb-flour mixture.

Add chicken to pan and cook first side until golden brown (about 5 minutes). Flip and cook other side until chicken is cooked through (use a meat thermometer to test). Remove to a clean plate and repeat with the rest of the chicken.

While chicken is cooking, use boiling water to rehydrate sun dried tomatoes (if using dried) or pat dry (if using sun dried tomatoes packed in oil). Chop garlic and grate Parmesan cheese.

For Sauce

Once chicken is all cooked and out of pan, melt 1 tsp each butter and olive oil in the same pan. Add chopped sun dried tomatoes and garlic and saute for a few minutes.

Add chicken broth and use a wooden spoon to scrap the brown bits off the bottom of the pan you used for the chicken.

Add fresh Parmesan cheese and heavy cream, as well as 1/4 of the reserved pasta water.

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